Archive By Section - Camden

A group of citizens and others supporting a referendum concerning a proposed YMCA-managed sports complex in Camden said Mayor Jeffrey Graham rebuffed its efforts to turn in signatures connected to a petition seeking the referendum.

Ward Ratz is setting up The Dog House again, this time back at his first location between Kmart and Big Lots on West DeKalb Street. Ratz lost an appeal of a decision by the city of Camden to repeal a one-year business license he received to operate on Broad Street. During an interview Thursday, Ratz said he planned to set up shop again at Kmart beginning today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Charles McQuirt took great pride in being from Camden. He was born and raised in Kershaw County and after earning both a B.A. and M.S. from Georgia Tech School of Aerospace Engineering and later a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at Purdue University's School of Aeronautics, Astronautics and Engineering Sciences, he returned to his home town.

On a split, 4-1, vote Tuesday morning, Camden City Council chose to move forward with a "full facility" option for the proposed construction of a new sports complex. That complex is likely to be managed by the YMCA of Columbia.

Camden City Council and citizens will finally get to see what a proposed sports complex might look like during council's meeting Tuesday. That's when council's Sports Complex Advisory Committee will present plans designed by JHS Architecture Integrated Design. The committee will also present two design alternatives based on JHS' full plans.

Few people attending a two-day charrette on a proposed "road diet" for Broad Street between York and DeKalb streets like the way Camden's main street looks today. More people participating in the series of meetings chose a recent photograph of Broad Street -- four lanes of black pavement with little landscaping features -- as the third-most unappealing photograph out of a series of approximately 30 streetscapes.

Some 40 people crowded into one of Newman Furniture's former downtown homes Monday night to hear first-hand -- and respond to -- some of the ideas for putting a section of Broad Street on a "road diet." First proposed within Duany Plater-Zyberk's (DPZ) 2008 vision plan for Camden, the basic idea is to calm traffic on Broad Street between DeKalb and York streets by narrowing the U.S. highway from four lanes to two and, possibly, introduce angled parking. A summary meeting was scheduled for Tuesday night in the same location at 6 p.m.

Camden City Council must now decide if it will place a referendum on city ballots asking if residents want the city of Camden to proceed with plans to construct a possibly YMCA of Columbia-run sports complex.

Camden City Council will officially consider Tuesday annexing the Kershaw County School District's (KCSD) new offices on West DeKalb Street. Council accepted the district's petition in mid-October, sending it on to the Camden Planning Commission for review. The commission did so at its Oct. 26 meeting, returning it to council for formal consideration.

On Oct. 25, Camden City Council, 4-1, passed second reading and final adoption of an ordinance designating a redevelopment project area tied to the creation of a tax incremental financing (TIF) district. The district, a 127-acre area along West DeKalb Street, will now be targeted for redevelopment by the city in the hopes of spurring private investors to do the same. An "anchor" of the TIF district is the proposed construction of a sports complex that may be managed by the YMCA of Columbia.

The city of Camden, in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), will conduct a planning charrette Nov. 14-15 to kick off the Broad Street "road diet" project. All charrette activities will be held at 1034 Broad St.